Method for collective contribution video creation and messaging

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a method for collective contribution video creation and messaging wherein story-based communications are created among multiple users. The disclosed method uses a program or application wherein a virtual object is used to authorize a particular user to make the immediate post to the applicable story communication. The possession of the virtual object also indicates that any user that does not have possession of the virtual object is unable to presently contribute to the group storyline. Once the user in possession of the virtual object submits his or her content, the virtual object is made available. Any user inside the story seeking to gain control may then attempt to obtain the virtual object. The present disclosure aids users in creating story timelines of their contributions, as well as promoting full contribution from all group members in messaging.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/905,689, filed on Feb. 26, 2018, which is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/478,625, filed on Apr. 4, 2017, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,906,755 which is a Continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/475,324, entitled “Method for Collective Contribution VideoCreation and Messaging”, filed Mar. 31, 2017, which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/316,029, filed on Mar. 31, 2016,entitled “Method for Collective Contribution Video Creation andMessaging,” the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter of the present invention generally relates to thefield of methods of messaging and social media interaction. Morespecifically, this invention is related to the method of creating videomessages and regulating the exchange of virtual communication messagesbetween those users.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale;instead, emphasis has been placed upon illustrating the principles ofthe invention. In addition, in the embodiments depicted herein, likereference numerals in the various drawings refer to identical or nearidentical elements.

FIG. 1 provides a general overview of the operation of the disclosedMethod for Collective Contribution Video Creation and Messaging.

FIG. 2 provides additional details on the disclosed Method forCollective Contribution Video Creation and Messaging process of passingpossession of the virtual object to users within the story-basedcommunication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The concatenation of pictures and videos in real time has become astandard method of communication in individual and large group settings.Recent advancements in the organization of content in real time(“stories”) have allowed individuals and groups to provide in-the-momentcommunication to other persons or groups. The result of this new styleof communication is that applications or “apps” that concatenatepictures and videos in real time are becoming a preferred method ofcommunication among individuals and groups. In addition to individualsand groups communicating to other individuals and groups, this new formof communication has become a favorite of businesses looking toadvertise and market to potential customers.

As this form of communication continues to grow, a need is arising for asystem to determine the order of present and future postings in thesereal-time communications. Several challenges have impeded such a processin the current art.

One such challenge is the quantity of content posted to a cloud-basedstorage location, such as servers. At the usage rates currently presentin the market, users and groups on average generate one to four posts inany given ninety second period. When there is a large influx of posts,the servers require additional time to receive and broadcast thecommunication to the desired receiver.

For example, if user posts a five second video to a story, in thecurrent art, there is nothing prohibiting the same user from postinganother video immediately afterwards. In this same example, the appbeing used by the user will send the consecutive post to a server whichwill store and load each post individually for the party on thereceiving end. In the same example, the party on the receiving end maybe delayed while he or she waits for the server to prepare theback-to-back videos being communicated. This time lag limits thecapabilities of this new form of communication, is inconvenient, andleads to a poor user experience.

To minimize this impact to users, these applications are forced to limitthe number of devices that can post to a single story. In the currentart, there is a maximum of the number of users that can communicateregarding a single story. This limitation from the application to itsuser allows the application to mitigate the risk of multiple userssubmitting posts, making the lag time in the communication minimal. Inthe present art, if it is desired that a single story communicate acrossa substantial number of users, the user is forced to choose analternative method of communication.

Another challenge is the quality of the content posted to the server.Since there is no limit to the amount of posts that a user may post in agiven period of time, the application's servers may ultimately store alarge amount of irrelevant content in order to maintain the story'scommunication. To use the same example from above, if the user's firstpost was a five second video of the long line to get on a roller coasterat Disney World, the user may follow up with a video of the same line,but zoomed in more. In this example, the user utilized two individualposts to communicate the same message. When situations like this occur,it is very common for the individual on the receiving end of the storyto skip to the next post to avoid watching the duplicated message. Thiscommon act by the receiving user makes this method of communicationinefficient when scaled for mass usage.

To minimize this inefficiency, these applications may intervene with amanual review process to allow the content from multiple users to beincluded in a single story. In the present day, there are uniquecircumstances in which an application will hire a staff to review userposted content from individual stories and manually copy the content toa story for all application users to review. Continuing the previousexample, if it is New Year's Eve, the application may hire a staff tocapture the best “Walt Disney World Fireworks.” In addition to postingabout the long lines at the Disney World roller coaster in his story,the previous user may have also captured an incredible, picturesquemoment of the fireworks display put on by Disney at midnight. In orderfor that post to be included in the application-generated “Walt DisneyWorld Fireworks” story, a hired staff member from the application mustsift through all user-submitted videos of the fireworks and select thetimeline of posts that best capture the fireworks, based upon the staffmember's creative discretion. Since this is a subjective selectionprocess, the story building takes more time and does not guarantee thata user's submission will ever be selected for the story.

The present disclosure reveals a method for streamlining the process formultiple user accounts to contribute content to a single story on a massscale.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein is a method for collective contribution video creationand messaging. More particularly, disclosed herein is a method for (i)determining the responsible party in a large group of users for thecurrent video post; (ii) determining the responsible party from a largegroup of users for future video posts; and (iii) determining which usersare unable to post.

To create the story, a program or application is used which can be runon a mobile device such as a smartphone. In this application is avirtual object that authorizes a particular user to make the immediatepost to the applicable story communication. The possession of thevirtual object also indicates that any user that does not havepossession of the virtual object is unable to presently contribute tothe group storyline. Once the user in possession of the virtual objectsubmits his or her content, the virtual object is made available. Anyuser inside the story seeking to gain control may then attempt to obtainthe virtual object. While there may be multiple users seeking possessionof the virtual object around the same time, the application willdistinguish which user will be granted control based on the earliestcollected time-stamp data. Once the virtual object has determined thefirst user that attempted to obtain it, control is granted over thevirtual object and the new user in control of communication is subjectto the same process as the previous user in control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present invention is described withspecificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, thedescription itself is not intended to necessarily limit the scope ofclaims. Rather, the claimed subject matter might be embodied in otherways to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to theones described in this document, in conjunction with other present orfuture technologies. Although the terms “step” and/or “block” or“module” etc. might be used herein to connote different components ofmethods or systems employed, the terms should not be interpreted asimplying any particular order among or between various steps hereindisclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps isexplicitly described.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided, such asexamples of apparatuses, mediums, frequencies, and application times.One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that thedisclosed Method for Collective Contribution Video Creation andMessaging may be practiced without one or more of the specific details,or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In otherinstances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shownor described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

The present disclosure relates to the generation of group-generatedstory communication. The present disclosure further relates to forms ofmultimedia based group communication, wherein a systematic means oforganizing priority and future priority to send videos, pictures, andother media when other users are unable to is established.

As used herein, the terms “story based communication” or “story” referto application that allow a user or multiple users to share content inreal-time with other users.

As used herein, the term content refers to media posted by the user ofan application. This media may be created using the built-in camerafeature of the user's electronic device. In the present embodiment, thatcontent would be a picture or video; however, those having ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that currently known or later discoveredcontent could also be posted by the user. The posted content may then beorganized into a timeline of all previous content submissions. In thepreferred embodiment, the various posts are organized in a chronologicalfashion; however, alternative embodiments may utilize other organizationsystems. The new content, including all previous content in the story,is visible by other group members by scrolling through the timelineand/or electing to automate playback in a similar format, such as aslideshow.

As used herein, the term timeline refers to a form of slideshowpresentation that threads the content in the selected order based uponestablished criteria. In the preferred embodiment, the establishedcriteria would be time captured. The timeline presentation would then beall content captured that is played sequentially once the presentationis signaled to start by the user.

As used herein, the terms application or “apps” refer to a mobiledevice's program that may be used by writing in a computer language suchas SWIFT or JAVA Script. Those having ordinary skill in the art willrecognize additional computer languages that may be utilized.

In one embodiment, the disclosed method of relay-style messaging occurswithin an application that has been downloaded, saved, or is otherwisecontained on the user's device. In the preferred embodiment, the methodis used on a smartphone, which has: access to the internet via Wi-Fi,cellular provided data, or other forms of internet access; the abilityto record and store audio, video, and/or pictures; has a touch screenfor both viewing and interaction; has speakers and/or the ability toconnect to speakers; and has a power sources, such as a rechargeablebattery.

The content threaded timeline can be created by a user utilizing theapplication or “app” that runs on an electronic device. Examples of suchdevices could be cell phones, smart phones, watches, wristbands, eyeglasses, wireless enabled cameras, etc. The application can becompletely video-based. In an additional embodiment, the applicationincludes a text-based structure for character based messaging.

For the preferred embodiment, the application is constructed uponApple's iOS platform using code drafted in SWIFT computer language;however, those having skill in the art will recognize that other codinglanguages and platforms may be used to practice the disclosed method.The current embodiment, wherein the application is written using theSWIFT language and iOS platform, is beneficial as the application canwork fluidly within the current iOS platform and will be able tocontinue to function as Apple evolves the iOS platform.

Within the application, users are determined to be applicable to astory-based communication via invitation by the user that elects tobegin a new story-based communication, which is generally shown in FIG.2. The individual that creates the story based communication, or host,creates the criteria to determine which users are applicable to themessage (or a “New Group is Created”). In the present embodiment, thehost forms a group by selecting members from his list of friends withinthe application, but selection may be applied to other criteria, such aslocation, demographic, time, or other factors. By taking advantage of a“web service call”, the application saves all the members in a “membertable” and automatically manages different statuses for each user(‘Invited’,‘Joined’, ‘Declined’). The default status is “Invited” whichdoes not change until a user “Accepts” the invitation making the statuschange to “Joined”. By using this “Joined” status, the application canidentify which users belong to a group and which are excluded.

The preferred embodiment of the method includes a virtual object, suchas an icon (identified as a “biton” in FIG. 2), which authorizes aparticular user to make the immediate post to the applicable storycommunication. This virtual object serves as an automated authority tothe group of users participating in the story, which mitigates the riskof a single user contributing back-to-back posts, multiple postscapturing the same exact moment, or posts in succession being unrelatedto what was submitted previously. For example, if a user would like tocontribute content to a story, the virtual object must be in the user'spossession; otherwise the user will not be able to communicate thecontent in the story.

Within the application, the user obtains possession of the virtualobject. The possession of the virtual object indicates that the user istemporarily in control of the group communication. The possession of thevirtual object also indicates that any user that does not havepossession of the virtual object is unable to presently contribute tothe group storyline. The user with possession of the virtual object hasthe authority to post the content in the pertinent group story.

The virtual object comprises a “Reach” feature that allows users seekingan opportunity to obtain possession the ability to alert the currentholder of the virtual object. A queue is maintained for all users whohave tapped on reach button within the application allowing the currentvirtual object holder to select the next turn among the users in thequeue. By selecting the user, a turn posting media will be created fornext holder.

If the user “grabs” the virtual object within the application, but doesnot post any media within a set time limit, then the application willcause the user to lose possession of the virtual object, and said userwill appear on the “bench”—allowing other users within the story-basedcommunication to obtain access. In one embodiment, this time-limit tocreate media is enforced by a countdown clock.

When a user posts media/or drops the virtual object, the “Object Status”Table identifies the status of virtual object with identifiers such asheld, dropped, or passed. Based on the Object Status Table, there isanother “Bench Table” which manages the users on the bench by monitoringan In/Out time.

The virtual object is unable to be possessed by multiple users due tothe programmed “Turn Management Table”, that maintains an active logusers that gain access to and pass the virtual object. When a userattempts to grab the virtual object from a user in possession, the turnof this user begins and the status of virtual object will be changed(managed in the Object Status table) to “Grabbed”, so a particular userwill become the “Object Holder”, and for the other users the virtualobject status will be “Reach” that means they can reach to the virtualobject for the next turn. This sequence of overlapped coding creates aprotective barrier around the virtual object making only one user ableto hold the virtual object.

If the user elects to accept the passed virtual object, the applicationwill start the turn for that specific Object Holder and he/she cancapture the media which will then be posted in the story basedcommunication.

In an additional embodiment, if a user is selected to hold the virtualobject, but that user has no media he or she wants to submit, the usercan pass the virtual object to another user.

Once the user in possession of the virtual object submits his or hercontent, the virtual object is made available. Any user inside the storyseeking to gain control may then attempt to obtain the virtual object.While there may be multiple users seeking possession of the virtualobject around the same time, the application will distinguish which userwill be granted control based on the earliest collected time-stamp data.Once the virtual object has determined the first user that attempted toobtain it, control is granted over the virtual object and the new userin control of communication is subject to the same process as theprevious user in control.

All submitted media posts are sent to the storage device and, in thepreferred embodiment, are assigned a unique identification number andname. The storage method utilized must have the capability of capturingand storing content from multiple devices and allow users at a moment'snotice access the content that it is storing on a single device. Thememory within the server may include a CSM (Computer System Memory) orRAM (Random Access Memory) in addition to other types of memory or acombination of memories.

At the time of capture and until the successful user creates a post,only the successful user's post will be stored into the storage locationat that point in time. In the preferred embodiment, the storage locationwill be a cloud-based server; however, those having ordinary skill inthe art will recognize other methods of storage. Once the post is storedin the storage location, it becomes available for viewing by other usersin an organized timeline.

In the preferred embodiment, the application stores the informationabout the media such as submission time, user's name that posted themedia, and the group id where media is posted. In the preferredembodiment, all data is stored based on Group Id to ensure multiplestory based communications in the same server are not improperlycombined. Submission time is also recorded in the preferred embodimentto arrange each individual story-based communication in chronologicalorder.

In one embodiment, the application uses an internet connection to sendand store data to the storage device.

FIG. 1 provides a visual representation of this method. Referring toFIG. 1, there is illustrated the capability-based model, where a singlevirtual object 10 represents control of the access-control mechanism. Inthis process, a member of the story-based communication group maymanually seize control 20 of the virtual object 10 at any given time.The member who has control 30 will now have exclusive permission totransmit a single media message 40. The member who has control 30 willmaintain such control for a variable period of time and/or measurabledistance or until after the member 30 manually transmits a singlemessage 40.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is the virtual communication database 80 thatreceives and stores new message transmissions. The database 80 forwardsthe newly received message to a timeline where it is organized with allprevious messages 90; wherein the first message is filtered to the frontend of the timeline and the most recent message is filtered to the backend of the timeline. The resulting timeline of messages 90 may bereviewed by all members of the group at any time.

In addition, shown in FIG. 1 is the process immediately following amessage transmission 40. The member who recently transmitted the message50 manually selects another member of the virtual communication group tohave control. If another member(s) is available to receive control, thenthe member currently in control may manually forward permission to onemember by choice 70. If another member is not available 60, then themember who recently transmitted the message 50 is relinquished ofcontrol and the virtual object is available to be accessed by any member10.

The present disclosure contemplates use of this method among apre-selected group of users. However, additional embodiments of thismethod have been actualized. In an additional embodiment, the baton isgeotagged to a specific geographical location and the ability to takecontrol of the virtual object and to transmit a message is available toanyone within a certain proximity to the geotagged baton. In such anembodiment, the timeline of messages 90 will be accessible to andviewable by any user that is within that geographical location.

In one embodiment, if the user in possession of the virtual object hasno users seeking possession or elects not to pass the virtual object toa specific user seeking possession, the virtual object will becomeavailable for any applicable user to potentially obtain.

In one embodiment, the user-provided content is deleted after a setduration of time. This duration of time could be set by the users or bythe application itself.

The disclosed method as applied to multimedia communications may also beused for the purposes of collaboration, large group communication,commercial promotion, and other uses that require stories to be scaledon a mass level.

Unlike previous limitations, the disclosed method allows users toinclude an unlimited amount of user accounts into a single story. Thisfeature offers users the convenience of unlimited inclusion in the storycommunication, while mitigating the chances of scaling stories using athird party manual selection process.

While the disclosed apparatus and method was designed for use in socialmedia interaction, the features and advantages of this design describedin this application can be utilized by a number of different industries.

In addition to communication between individuals, the applicability ofthis method extends beyond such communication. For example, theautomation of large group story-based communication and the organizationof large amounts of picture/video content may be useful to businessesfor mass-marketing.

Experiments were performed to confirm the advantages of the exemplaryembodiments of the story based communication system as they relate tobeing able to have a massive amount of users post content within asingle story. In one such experiment, approximately 50 usersparticipated by attending a tailgate at a football game with the goal tocapture the story of the five hour tailgate. These 50 users utilized thecurrent disclosure in addition to two other communication applicationsavailable in the art. Each user was invited to join the presentdisclosure's story based communication designed specifically tocommunicate the atmosphere of the tailgate in addition to creating astory on known messaging applications. All tests were conducted usingthe iOS platform and the same cellular provided internet system on agiven user's iPhone device. The results of this experiment confirmedthat known messaging applications are unable to automate theorganization of story based content designed for a specific purpose. Thestories created on known messaging applications failed to coherentlydemonstrate the atmosphere of the tailgate from multiple userperspectives. Only the present disclosure coherently utilized storybased communication to depict the atmosphere at the experimentaltailgate.

For the purpose of understanding the Method for Collective ContributionVideo Creation and Messaging, references are made in the text toexemplary embodiments of a Method for Collective Contribution VideoCreation and Messaging, only some of which are described herein. Itshould be understood that no limitations on the scope of the inventionare intended by describing these exemplary embodiments. One of ordinaryskill in the art will readily appreciate that alternate but functionallyequivalent components, materials, designs, steps, and equipment may beused. The inclusion of additional elements may be deemed readilyapparent and obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Specificelements disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, butrather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis forteaching one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the presentinvention.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, orsimilar language does not imply that all of the features and advantagesthat may be realized should be or are in any single embodiment. Rather,language referring to the features and advantages is understood to meanthat a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described inconnection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment.Thus, discussion of the features and advantages, and similar language,throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to thesame embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Oneskilled in the relevant art will recognize that the Method forCollective Contribution Video Creation and Messaging may be practicedwithout one or more of the specific features or advantages of aparticular embodiment. In other instances, additional features andadvantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not bepresent in all embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the sameembodiment.

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale;instead, emphasis has been placed upon illustrating the principles ofthe invention. In addition, in the embodiments depicted herein, likereference numerals in the various drawings refer to identical or nearidentical structural elements.

Moreover, the terms “substantially” or “approximately” as used hereinmay be applied to modify any quantitative representation that couldpermissibly vary without resulting in a change to the basic function towhich it is related.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A system, comprising: a server system configuredto support collaborative messaging between users having computingdevices that are network connected to the server system, wherein theserver system hosts a computer-executable communication applicationwhich, when executed by the server system, is configured to perform acomputer-implemented process which comprises: enabling an originatinguser to initiate a story-based communication; enabling the originatinguser to form a group of users that can participate in the story-basedcommunication, wherein the group of users comprises the originating userand one or more additional users; managing control of a virtualauthorization object by users within the group of users participating inthe story-based communication; enabling a user having control of thevirtual authorization object to upload a media object to the serversystem, while preventing any user without control of the virtualauthorization object from uploading a media object to the server system;organizing uploaded media objects received from the group of users intoa timeline series of media objects, wherein the story-basedcommunication comprises the timelines series of media objects; andenabling access to the timeline series of media objects to all userswithin the group of users for viewing on the computing devices of theusers, which are network connected to the server system.
 22. The systemof claim 21, wherein managing control of the virtual authorizationobject by users within the group of users participating in thestory-based communication comprises automatically relinquishing controlof the virtual authorization object by a first user and assigningcontrol of the virtual authorization object to a second user, inresponse to an occurrence of a predefined event.
 23. The system of claim22, wherein the predefined event comprises the first user uploading amedia object to the server system.
 24. The system of claim 22, whereinthe predefined event comprises an expiration of a predetermined periodof time in which the first user in control of the virtual authorizationobject does not upload a media object to the server system.
 25. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein managing control of the virtualauthorization object by users within the group of users participating inthe story-based communication comprises maintaining a request queuecomprising an ordered sequence of pending requests received fromrequesting users within the group of users for control of the virtualauthorization object.
 26. The system of claim 25, wherein managingcontrol of the virtual authorization object by users within the group ofusers participating in the story-based communication further comprisessequentially assigning control of the virtual authorization to eachrequesting user in an order that corresponds to the ordered sequence ofpending requests in the request queue.
 27. The system of claim 21,wherein managing control of the virtual authorization object by userswithin the group of users participating in the story-based communicationcomprises allowing a first user in control of the virtual authorizationobject to pass control of the virtual authorization object to a seconduser within the group of users.
 28. The system of claim 21, whereinenabling the originating user to form the group of users comprises:enabling the originating user to send an invitation to one or moreadditional users selected by the originating user to participate in thestory-based communication; and forming the group of users to include allusers that accept the invitation to participate in the story-basedcommunication.
 29. The system of claim 21, wherein enabling theoriginating user to form the group of users comprises: enabling theoriginating user to send an invitation to one or more additional usersthat are located near or within a geolocation of an event or objectwhich is a subject of the story-based communication initiated by theoriginating user; and forming the group of users to include all usersthat accept the invitation to participate in the story-basedcommunication.
 30. A method implemented by a server system that hosts acomputer-executable communication application configured to supportcollaborative messaging between users having computing devices that arenetwork connected to the server system, the method comprising: enablingan originating user to initiate a story-based communication; enablingthe originating user to form a group of users that can participate inthe story-based communication, wherein the group of users comprises theoriginating user and one or more additional users; managing control of avirtual authorization object by users within the group of usersparticipating in the story-based communication; enabling a user havingcontrol of the virtual authorization object to upload a media object tothe server system, while preventing any user without control of thevirtual authorization object from uploading a media object to the serversystem; organizing uploaded media objects received from the group ofusers into a timeline series of media objects, wherein the story-basedcommunication comprises the timelines series of media objects; andenabling access to the timeline series of media objects to all userswithin the group of users for viewing on the computing devices of theusers, which are network connected to the server system.
 31. The methodof claim 30, wherein managing control of the virtual authorizationobject by users within the group of users participating in thestory-based communication comprises automatically relinquishing controlof the virtual authorization object by a first user and assigningcontrol of the virtual authorization object to a second user, inresponse to an occurrence of a predefined event.
 32. The method of claim31, wherein the predefined event comprises the first user uploading amedia object to the server system.
 33. The method of claim 31, whereinthe predefined event comprises an expiration of a predetermined periodof time in which the first user in control of the virtual authorizationobject does not upload a media object to the server system.
 34. Themethod of claim 30, wherein managing control of the virtualauthorization object by users within the group of users participating inthe story-based communication comprises maintaining a request queuecomprising an ordered sequence of pending requests received fromrequesting users within the group of users for control of the virtualauthorization object.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein managingcontrol of the virtual authorization object by users within the group ofusers participating in the story-based communication further comprisessequentially assigning control of the virtual authorization to eachrequesting user in an order that corresponds to the ordered sequence ofpending requests in the request queue.
 36. The method of claim 30,wherein managing control of the virtual authorization object by userswithin the group of users participating in the story-based communicationcomprises allowing a first user in control of the virtual authorizationobject to pass control of the virtual authorization object to a seconduser within the group of users.
 37. The method of claim 30, whereinenabling the originating user to form the group of users comprises:enabling the originating user to send an invitation to one or moreadditional users selected by the originating user to participate in thestory-based communication; and forming the group of users to include allusers that accept the invitation to participate in the story-basedcommunication.
 38. The method of claim 30, wherein enabling theoriginating user to form the group of users comprises: enabling theoriginating user to send an invitation to one or more additional usersthat are located near or within a geolocation of an event or objectwhich is a subject of the story-based communication initiated by theoriginating user; and forming the group of users to include all usersthat accept the invitation to participate in the story-basedcommunication.
 39. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitoryprocessor-readable storage medium having stored therein program code ofa software program, wherein the program code is executable by one ormore processors to perform a process implemented by a server system tosupport collaborative messaging between users having computing devicesthat are network connected to the server system, the process comprising:enabling an originating user to initiate a story-based communication;enabling the originating user to form a group of users that canparticipate in the story-based communication, wherein the group of userscomprises the originating user and one or more additional users;managing control of a virtual authorization object by users within thegroup of users participating in the story-based communication; enablinga user having control of the virtual authorization object to upload amedia object to the server system, while preventing any user withoutcontrol of the virtual authorization object from uploading a mediaobject to the server system; organizing uploaded media objects receivedfrom the group of users into a timeline series of media objects, whereinthe story-based communication comprises the timelines series of mediaobjects; and enabling access to the timeline series of media objects toall users within the group of users for viewing on the computing devicesof the users, which are network connected to the server system.
 40. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 39, wherein managing control of thevirtual authorization object by users within the group of usersparticipating in the story-based communication comprises: automaticallyrelinquishing control of the virtual authorization object by a firstuser and assigning control of the virtual authorization object to asecond user, in response to an occurrence of a predefined event; whereinthe predefined event comprises at least one of (i) the first useruploading a media object to the server system and (ii) an expiration ofa predetermined period of time in which the first user in control of thevirtual authorization object does not upload a media object to theserver system.